SPM 582
TRUTH FOR TROUBLED HEARTS John 14:1-6 Some of us have versions of the Bible where some of the text is in red, instead of black. They stand out on the page from the rest of the words to let us know that every one of those words in red are the words of Jesus. Every word in the Bible is God breathed.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. The words in red should be read! The words in red should be well-read! The words in red and should be well read and re-read! Tonight — on the Monday Night before Good Friday — we’re going to look at some of the most precious red letters in the Gospel accounts. They are most precious because they are His parting words to His closest friends. He is saying these words to men He’d been with and invested in 24/7 for nearly three years. They are words He spoke to them just before He was arrested, beaten, scourged and crucified.
John 14 begins with the words —
“Let not your hearts be troubled.
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REMEMBER — There were no chapter breaks in the originals. The account simply continues right from John 13:38. So why would their hearts be troubled? Jesus had just told them 3 things that troubled them deeply: 1. Jesus was going to 1
leave them; 2. Judas was going to betray Him; 3. Peter would deny Him. The fears of death; betrayal and denial are heart troubling! Here’s why we love Jesus so much — At that very moment Jesus was troubled in a way that they could never know! In John 11 Jesus was troubled (same word as 14:1). Jesus was at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. He groaned and was troubled . He was troubled as the creator looking at how sin had brought death and decay to the crown jewel of His creation. He was troubled because sin and death brought such grief and sorrow to man. In John 12 Jesus said that the hour of His sacrificial death had come — and in light of that he said, now is my soul troubled . He was troubled because He was going to be wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities — the chastisement for our peace was going to be laid upon Him, and by the stripes of the Roman scourge upon His back we would be healed. Jesus was troubled because He knew that in some incomprehensible mystery, as He bore our sins on the cross, He would be separated from the Father — and in that moment He would cry out — My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? In John 13, He was troubled when He revealed to them that one of them would betray Him. And yet — for all that troubled HIS heart — Jesus cared about THEIR troubled hearts — spoke to THEIR troubled hearts. One of the great remedies for a troubled heart is know that Jesus is our great high priest — That He is at the right hand of God interceding for us.
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Any of you that have lost a loved one know that death is troubling. Even though we know what the Scripture says about death — even though we have the sure hope of seeing that person again if they're a believer — death is still painful — still troubles us deeply. That is because God didn't wire us to deal with death. As we saw in our CREDO series — God created Adam in his own image and likeness. Adam wasn't made for death — he was made for life! There was no file on the hard drive labeled — death. So even as believers, assured of forever in the presence of God in glorified bodies, there's something about death, that doesn’t register. We go through the process of mourning because we have no file for it — we don’t know how to deal with it, where to place it, file it, if you would. Jesus was troubled by the reality of death — and because of that we have a high priest 2
who can be touched with our infirmities. We can go to him knowing that HE has been troubled by death. Betrayal is troubling. Betrayal can be one of the most painful things. Whether it is in marriage, or with your children, or in business or in church, it is troubling. When we are betrayed we can go to Jesus, pour our hearts out to Him and know that He understands how troubled we are — because Jesus was troubled by betrayal. It is troubling when a friend fails you. They promise to stand by your side — promise to be there for you, and then they fail to live up to their promise. That can be genuinely troubling. If you have ever had that happen and then heard that person say — “I never meant to hurt you,” — it was troubling, wasn’t it. When that happens we can go to Jesus, pour our hearts out to Him and know that He understands how troubled we are — because Jesus was troubled by Peter’s failure. DON’T MISS THIS — Though Jesus is troubled in the face of those things — He is concerned for their troubled hearts — Having loved His own, He loved them to the end. He has a real remedy for their troubled hearts.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 1
HUGE — In the face of TROUBLING stuff, Jesus says that there is a choice we have to make — We have to choose to NOT let our hearts be troubled. Here’s what we do — Believe in God; believe also in me…. KJV You
believe in God, believe also in me”
QUOTE: A Handbook on the Gospel of John — In this context Believe in me must be understood in the sense of “put your confidence in me” or “trust in me” or “trust yourself to me.” 1
Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John. Helps for translators; UBS handbook series (454). New York: United Bible Societies. 3
QUOTE: J.I. Packer; “Affirming the Apostle’s Creed” — the Creed’s opening words, “I believe in God,” render a Greek phrase coined by the writers of the New Testament, meaning literally: “I am believing into God.” That is to say, over and above believing certain truths about God, I am living in a relation of commitment to God in trust…. When I say “I believe in God,” I am professing my conviction that God has invited me to this commitment and declaring that I have accepted his invitation….. Whereas belief suggests bare opinion, faith, whether in a car, a patent medicine, a protégé, a doctor, a marriage partner, or what have you, is a matter of treating the person or thing as trustworthy and committing yourself accordingly.
BIG STUFF — FAITH is not a feeling. It’s OBJECTIVE! THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT — Believe in God; believe also in me — The verbs are present imperatives, with the sense of: “Keep on believing in God ...keep on believing in Me .”
QUOTE: J.C. Ryle — No doubt the members of that little band which sat round the table at the last supper, had believed already. They had proved the reality of their faith by giving up everything for Christ's sake. Yet what does their Lord say to them here? Once more He presses on them the old lesson, the lesson with which they first began--"Believe! Believe more! Believe on Me!"
Isaiah. 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
We’ve said so many times before — from so many places in the Scripture — that faith is essential to the Christian life. The Christian life begins with faith. It is lived by faith.
Romans 1:17 The just shall LIVE by faith Galatians 2:20 This life I now live, I LIVE by faith in the Son of God who loved me and died for me
BUT HERE’S THE DEAL — QUOTE: Paul Tripp — FAITH is not NATURAL to us. It’s the question WHY that is natural to us — DOUBT is natural to us. 4
QUOTE: Every test that blows our way can either fill our sails with faith, or break our mast from the strain of unbelief.
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 2
Jesus essentially says to them — Death is troubling, betrayal is troubling, suffering is troubling — but Heaven is real. It’s where I am. I’m going to prepare a place for you and I will come for you so that where I am you will be. If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled we have recognize that 1.) This world is not heaven — We are troubled by death, betrayal, suffering for the simple reason that this world is not heaven! Men and women think that a few more possessions, the right address, a better president, will make this world heaven. QUOTE: C.S. Lewis — Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. Those things don’t change the reality of sin and death. Even the best of fallen mankind have all discovered that when they think things are starting to look and feel like heaven someone dies, someone betrays us, and we loose the things that made us comfortable in this fallen world. We can never expect to be exempt from such trouble. If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled we have to LIVE AS THOUGH 2.) This world is not home — QUOTE: C.S. Lewis — “If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world” QUOTE: C.S. Lewis; The Last Battle — “It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This 5
is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this…. Come further up, come further in!” If this world is not home for the believer — then it would follow that the remedy for troubled hearts is to realize we are pilgrims — and we are on our way home. The HOPE of our destination is an anchor in the face of trouble
1 Peter 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to
his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
Hebrews 6:18-19 so that…. we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul Revelation 21:4-5 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Lyrics from FLAGS (Brooke Fraser) You who mourn will be comforted — You who hunger will hunger no more — All the last shall be first Of this I am sure You who weep now will laugh again — All you lonely be lonely no more — Yes, the last will be first Of this I'm sure I don't know why the innocents fall While the monsters stand I don't know why the little ones thirst — But I know the last shall be first QUOTE: Who could mind the journey, when the road leads home? The assurance of a heavenly home at the end of our earthly pilgrimage is the remedy for troubled hearts as we face obstacles and battles along the way. It was the joy of seeing us in heaven that enabled Jesus to “endure the cross” (Heb. 12:2). It was heaven that enabled Paul to process everything that troubled him — 6
Romans 8:18; 24-25 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us…..24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled, we have to LIVE AS THOUGH 3.) Heaven is a real place — Jesus doesn’t speak of heaven as a state of mind. He speaks of heaven as real place. There is no state of mind that can remedy the troubled heart. Before I was saved heaven was merely a concept; hell was merely a concept. Both were merely subjects for philosophical or theological debate, but not something literal that could change my heart or the values.
John 3:3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
But when the Lord shined into my heart the light of the knowledge of the gory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (45 years/85 days/roughly 19 hours ago) I knew that heaven was real.
Philippians 3:20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ…
Colossians 1:3-6 We always thank God , the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
2 Corinthians 5:1-7 For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is
destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3…..so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 7
If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled, we have to LIVE AS THOUGH 4.) Heaven is a place prepared for us! Jesus would not be content to dwell in glory without His redeemed. He left His throne in glory so that by His death and resurrection we might live in His presence forever. After conquering sin and death He ascended into heaven — and for the past 2,000 years has been preparing that place for us. Jesus — the One who created the heavens and the earth from nothing — is the One preparing it for us. He prepared this world for man in 6 days. He’s been working on a new dwelling place for 2,000 years. Don’t miss this — Not only is heaven a prepared place — it is a prepared place for a prepared people. God uses the troubles of this fallen world to prepare us for heaven! QUOTE: C.H. Spurgeon — The place is prepared; are you prepared for it? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, your preparation has begun. Do you love the Lord and love his people? If so, your preparation is going on. Do you hate sin, and do you pant after holiness? If so, your preparation is progressing. Is Jesus your all in all? Then you are almost ready. May the Lord keep you in that condition and before long swing up the gates of pearl and let you into the prepared place! We are living between the ALREADY and the NOT YET! THE ALREADY of the cross and resurrection and the NOT YET of our real home in the presence of God in a glorified body in a New Heaven and a New Earth — forever! If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled, we have to LIVE AS THOUGH 5.) Heaven is all about Jesus — The Bible doesn’t tell us everything about What we will see in heaven. But one thing is absolutely certain — we shall see Christ.
Revelation 21:22-23 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God
the Almighty and the Lamb. 23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Revelation 22:3-6 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And night will be no more. They will
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need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. 6And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true QUOTE: The Sands of Time Are Sinking — The bride eyes not her garment, But her dear Bridegroom’s face; I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace. Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand; The Lamb is all the glory
Of Emmanuel’s land.
…I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 3
Not content to conquer sin and death — not content to prepare a place and us for a place — He is going to come AGAIN and take us to Himself so that where HE IS we might also be!
And you know the way to where I am going.” 5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
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Listen — No one has major issues with the concept of heaven! Some might think you’re moronic for believing in heaven — but they won’t hate you for believing in the concept — as long as you concede that there is no right or wrong when it comes to those things. What the world hates is exclusivity — absolutes. The world loses all rationality in this. The world says that there is ABSOLUTELY NO such thing as ABSOLUTE TRUTH. The world does not want to be told that there is only ONE true God (tomorrow night CREDO study). The world does not want to be told that ONE religion is right — and that every other religion is
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wrong. The world does not want to be told that the Bible alone is true, and the all other religious writings are false. The world does not want to be told that only ONE path to God is right, and the rest are wrong. The reason that Christians are considered narrow-minded is because we are — and we are because Jesus was and Jesus is. Kenneth Wuest — Greek Scholar who taught at Moody Bible Institute says that the grammatical structure is in the emphatic. Jesus said — I alone am the way, I alone am the truth, I alone am the life. Wuest says that the tense of No man comes means no man has ever come, no man is coming and no man ever will come to the Father but by me. Christians say — If you want the way to eternal life in God, you need Christ. If you want the truth, you need Christ. And if you want to have true life, you need Christ. We say that because Jesus said so. That makes us counter-cultural, and at some point, it causes some people to hold us in contempt. We don’t hate those people. We love them, but we love them in a way that is truthful. CLOSE — The fallen world we live in is filled with trouble. In the face of this fallen world Jesus says that we need to be believing INTO God —believing INTO Him! And if a believer has a troubled heart — the remedy is to live as though this world isn’t heaven — this world isn’t home. We need to live as if Heaven is a real place — a prepared place. We need to live as though Heaven is all about Jesus. Jesus is the only way there. How simple and how wonderful. There's only one name given among men whereby we must be saved — the name of Jesus. Some people are troubled that there is only ONE way! What is incredible is that there is A way. There's A way for a sinner to come into the presence of the righteous God forever. There’s A way for that righteous God to be just and the justifier of the ungodly. JESUS is THAT one and only way. This world is a troubled place. Men and women are desperate to know how to deal with the troubles they face. Christianity claims that JESUS is the remedy for the troubled heart. Those who are not yet Christians are watching how we deal with those things that trouble them. I believe that there are many men and women who are watching us — and they are desperately HOPING that the Gospel is true! When we live as though this world isn’t heaven; live as though 10
this world isn’t home; live as though Heaven is a real place, a prepared place — our lives preach to a fallen world. THAT is what Gospel living looks like! Gospel living provoke Gospel questions — and we get to respond with our one and only answer: JESUS!
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2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. The words in red should be read! The words in red should be well-read! The words in red and should be well read and re-read! Tonight — on the Monday Night before Good Friday — we’re going to look at some of the most precious red letters in the Gospel accounts. They are most precious because they are His parting words to His closest friends. He is saying these words to men He’d been with and invested in 24/7 for nearly three years. They are words He spoke to them just before He was arrested, beaten, scourged and crucified.
John 14 begins with the words —
“Let not your hearts be troubled.
1
REMEMBER — There were no chapter breaks in the originals. The account simply continues right from John 13:38. So why would their hearts be troubled? Jesus had just told them 3 things that troubled them deeply: 1. Jesus was going to 1
leave them; 2. Judas was going to betray Him; 3. Peter would deny Him. The fears of death; betrayal and denial are heart troubling! Here’s why we love Jesus so much — At that very moment Jesus was troubled in a way that they could never know! In John 11 Jesus was troubled (same word as 14:1). Jesus was at the tomb of His friend Lazarus. He groaned and was troubled . He was troubled as the creator looking at how sin had brought death and decay to the crown jewel of His creation. He was troubled because sin and death brought such grief and sorrow to man. In John 12 Jesus said that the hour of His sacrificial death had come — and in light of that he said, now is my soul troubled . He was troubled because He was going to be wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities — the chastisement for our peace was going to be laid upon Him, and by the stripes of the Roman scourge upon His back we would be healed. Jesus was troubled because He knew that in some incomprehensible mystery, as He bore our sins on the cross, He would be separated from the Father — and in that moment He would cry out — My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? In John 13, He was troubled when He revealed to them that one of them would betray Him. And yet — for all that troubled HIS heart — Jesus cared about THEIR troubled hearts — spoke to THEIR troubled hearts. One of the great remedies for a troubled heart is know that Jesus is our great high priest — That He is at the right hand of God interceding for us.
Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Any of you that have lost a loved one know that death is troubling. Even though we know what the Scripture says about death — even though we have the sure hope of seeing that person again if they're a believer — death is still painful — still troubles us deeply. That is because God didn't wire us to deal with death. As we saw in our CREDO series — God created Adam in his own image and likeness. Adam wasn't made for death — he was made for life! There was no file on the hard drive labeled — death. So even as believers, assured of forever in the presence of God in glorified bodies, there's something about death, that doesn’t register. We go through the process of mourning because we have no file for it — we don’t know how to deal with it, where to place it, file it, if you would. Jesus was troubled by the reality of death — and because of that we have a high priest 2
who can be touched with our infirmities. We can go to him knowing that HE has been troubled by death. Betrayal is troubling. Betrayal can be one of the most painful things. Whether it is in marriage, or with your children, or in business or in church, it is troubling. When we are betrayed we can go to Jesus, pour our hearts out to Him and know that He understands how troubled we are — because Jesus was troubled by betrayal. It is troubling when a friend fails you. They promise to stand by your side — promise to be there for you, and then they fail to live up to their promise. That can be genuinely troubling. If you have ever had that happen and then heard that person say — “I never meant to hurt you,” — it was troubling, wasn’t it. When that happens we can go to Jesus, pour our hearts out to Him and know that He understands how troubled we are — because Jesus was troubled by Peter’s failure. DON’T MISS THIS — Though Jesus is troubled in the face of those things — He is concerned for their troubled hearts — Having loved His own, He loved them to the end. He has a real remedy for their troubled hearts.
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 1
HUGE — In the face of TROUBLING stuff, Jesus says that there is a choice we have to make — We have to choose to NOT let our hearts be troubled. Here’s what we do — Believe in God; believe also in me…. KJV You
believe in God, believe also in me”
QUOTE: A Handbook on the Gospel of John — In this context Believe in me must be understood in the sense of “put your confidence in me” or “trust in me” or “trust yourself to me.” 1
Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John. Helps for translators; UBS handbook series (454). New York: United Bible Societies. 3
QUOTE: J.I. Packer; “Affirming the Apostle’s Creed” — the Creed’s opening words, “I believe in God,” render a Greek phrase coined by the writers of the New Testament, meaning literally: “I am believing into God.” That is to say, over and above believing certain truths about God, I am living in a relation of commitment to God in trust…. When I say “I believe in God,” I am professing my conviction that God has invited me to this commitment and declaring that I have accepted his invitation….. Whereas belief suggests bare opinion, faith, whether in a car, a patent medicine, a protégé, a doctor, a marriage partner, or what have you, is a matter of treating the person or thing as trustworthy and committing yourself accordingly.
BIG STUFF — FAITH is not a feeling. It’s OBJECTIVE! THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT — Believe in God; believe also in me — The verbs are present imperatives, with the sense of: “Keep on believing in God ...keep on believing in Me .”
QUOTE: J.C. Ryle — No doubt the members of that little band which sat round the table at the last supper, had believed already. They had proved the reality of their faith by giving up everything for Christ's sake. Yet what does their Lord say to them here? Once more He presses on them the old lesson, the lesson with which they first began--"Believe! Believe more! Believe on Me!"
Isaiah. 26:3 You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
We’ve said so many times before — from so many places in the Scripture — that faith is essential to the Christian life. The Christian life begins with faith. It is lived by faith.
Romans 1:17 The just shall LIVE by faith Galatians 2:20 This life I now live, I LIVE by faith in the Son of God who loved me and died for me
BUT HERE’S THE DEAL — QUOTE: Paul Tripp — FAITH is not NATURAL to us. It’s the question WHY that is natural to us — DOUBT is natural to us. 4
QUOTE: Every test that blows our way can either fill our sails with faith, or break our mast from the strain of unbelief.
In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 2
Jesus essentially says to them — Death is troubling, betrayal is troubling, suffering is troubling — but Heaven is real. It’s where I am. I’m going to prepare a place for you and I will come for you so that where I am you will be. If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled we have recognize that 1.) This world is not heaven — We are troubled by death, betrayal, suffering for the simple reason that this world is not heaven! Men and women think that a few more possessions, the right address, a better president, will make this world heaven. QUOTE: C.S. Lewis — Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. Those things don’t change the reality of sin and death. Even the best of fallen mankind have all discovered that when they think things are starting to look and feel like heaven someone dies, someone betrays us, and we loose the things that made us comfortable in this fallen world. We can never expect to be exempt from such trouble. If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled we have to LIVE AS THOUGH 2.) This world is not home — QUOTE: C.S. Lewis — “If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world” QUOTE: C.S. Lewis; The Last Battle — “It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This 5
is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this…. Come further up, come further in!” If this world is not home for the believer — then it would follow that the remedy for troubled hearts is to realize we are pilgrims — and we are on our way home. The HOPE of our destination is an anchor in the face of trouble
1 Peter 1:3-6 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to
his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,
Hebrews 6:18-19 so that…. we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul Revelation 21:4-5 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
Lyrics from FLAGS (Brooke Fraser) You who mourn will be comforted — You who hunger will hunger no more — All the last shall be first Of this I am sure You who weep now will laugh again — All you lonely be lonely no more — Yes, the last will be first Of this I'm sure I don't know why the innocents fall While the monsters stand I don't know why the little ones thirst — But I know the last shall be first QUOTE: Who could mind the journey, when the road leads home? The assurance of a heavenly home at the end of our earthly pilgrimage is the remedy for troubled hearts as we face obstacles and battles along the way. It was the joy of seeing us in heaven that enabled Jesus to “endure the cross” (Heb. 12:2). It was heaven that enabled Paul to process everything that troubled him — 6
Romans 8:18; 24-25 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not
worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us…..24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled, we have to LIVE AS THOUGH 3.) Heaven is a real place — Jesus doesn’t speak of heaven as a state of mind. He speaks of heaven as real place. There is no state of mind that can remedy the troubled heart. Before I was saved heaven was merely a concept; hell was merely a concept. Both were merely subjects for philosophical or theological debate, but not something literal that could change my heart or the values.
John 3:3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
But when the Lord shined into my heart the light of the knowledge of the gory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (45 years/85 days/roughly 19 hours ago) I knew that heaven was real.
Philippians 3:20 Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ…
Colossians 1:3-6 We always thank God , the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
when we pray for you, 4since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and growing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth,
2 Corinthians 5:1-7 For we know that if the tent, which is our earthly home, is
destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3…..so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 7
If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled, we have to LIVE AS THOUGH 4.) Heaven is a place prepared for us! Jesus would not be content to dwell in glory without His redeemed. He left His throne in glory so that by His death and resurrection we might live in His presence forever. After conquering sin and death He ascended into heaven — and for the past 2,000 years has been preparing that place for us. Jesus — the One who created the heavens and the earth from nothing — is the One preparing it for us. He prepared this world for man in 6 days. He’s been working on a new dwelling place for 2,000 years. Don’t miss this — Not only is heaven a prepared place — it is a prepared place for a prepared people. God uses the troubles of this fallen world to prepare us for heaven! QUOTE: C.H. Spurgeon — The place is prepared; are you prepared for it? Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, your preparation has begun. Do you love the Lord and love his people? If so, your preparation is going on. Do you hate sin, and do you pant after holiness? If so, your preparation is progressing. Is Jesus your all in all? Then you are almost ready. May the Lord keep you in that condition and before long swing up the gates of pearl and let you into the prepared place! We are living between the ALREADY and the NOT YET! THE ALREADY of the cross and resurrection and the NOT YET of our real home in the presence of God in a glorified body in a New Heaven and a New Earth — forever! If we are going to NOT let our hearts be troubled, we have to LIVE AS THOUGH 5.) Heaven is all about Jesus — The Bible doesn’t tell us everything about What we will see in heaven. But one thing is absolutely certain — we shall see Christ.
Revelation 21:22-23 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God
the Almighty and the Lamb. 23And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Revelation 22:3-6 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5And night will be no more. They will
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need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. 6And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true QUOTE: The Sands of Time Are Sinking — The bride eyes not her garment, But her dear Bridegroom’s face; I will not gaze at glory
But on my King of grace. Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand; The Lamb is all the glory
Of Emmanuel’s land.
…I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 3
Not content to conquer sin and death — not content to prepare a place and us for a place — He is going to come AGAIN and take us to Himself so that where HE IS we might also be!
And you know the way to where I am going.” 5Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
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Listen — No one has major issues with the concept of heaven! Some might think you’re moronic for believing in heaven — but they won’t hate you for believing in the concept — as long as you concede that there is no right or wrong when it comes to those things. What the world hates is exclusivity — absolutes. The world loses all rationality in this. The world says that there is ABSOLUTELY NO such thing as ABSOLUTE TRUTH. The world does not want to be told that there is only ONE true God (tomorrow night CREDO study). The world does not want to be told that ONE religion is right — and that every other religion is
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wrong. The world does not want to be told that the Bible alone is true, and the all other religious writings are false. The world does not want to be told that only ONE path to God is right, and the rest are wrong. The reason that Christians are considered narrow-minded is because we are — and we are because Jesus was and Jesus is. Kenneth Wuest — Greek Scholar who taught at Moody Bible Institute says that the grammatical structure is in the emphatic. Jesus said — I alone am the way, I alone am the truth, I alone am the life. Wuest says that the tense of No man comes means no man has ever come, no man is coming and no man ever will come to the Father but by me. Christians say — If you want the way to eternal life in God, you need Christ. If you want the truth, you need Christ. And if you want to have true life, you need Christ. We say that because Jesus said so. That makes us counter-cultural, and at some point, it causes some people to hold us in contempt. We don’t hate those people. We love them, but we love them in a way that is truthful. CLOSE — The fallen world we live in is filled with trouble. In the face of this fallen world Jesus says that we need to be believing INTO God —believing INTO Him! And if a believer has a troubled heart — the remedy is to live as though this world isn’t heaven — this world isn’t home. We need to live as if Heaven is a real place — a prepared place. We need to live as though Heaven is all about Jesus. Jesus is the only way there. How simple and how wonderful. There's only one name given among men whereby we must be saved — the name of Jesus. Some people are troubled that there is only ONE way! What is incredible is that there is A way. There's A way for a sinner to come into the presence of the righteous God forever. There’s A way for that righteous God to be just and the justifier of the ungodly. JESUS is THAT one and only way. This world is a troubled place. Men and women are desperate to know how to deal with the troubles they face. Christianity claims that JESUS is the remedy for the troubled heart. Those who are not yet Christians are watching how we deal with those things that trouble them. I believe that there are many men and women who are watching us — and they are desperately HOPING that the Gospel is true! When we live as though this world isn’t heaven; live as though 10
this world isn’t home; live as though Heaven is a real place, a prepared place — our lives preach to a fallen world. THAT is what Gospel living looks like! Gospel living provoke Gospel questions — and we get to respond with our one and only answer: JESUS!
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